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Not everyone agrees with every rule that governs geocaching, but at some point we have to all work together for the good of the sport. At this stage of our development and working with land managers such as the DNR, some compromise is going to be necessary. The alternative — which we have already seen in neighboring states — is an outright ban on geocaching. The WGA has sought input from members on the proposed policy since August of 2002, and we received a lot of good input from members via the forums and via public WGA meetings held at geocaching events. We continue to value everyone’s input as we await the next stage of the process, which is to see what the DNR policy will be.
I logged in active2gether earlier today and added our numbers but it’s not yet on the list.
Maybe I can shed some light on this. When we first met with DNR Parks officials in the summer of 2002 to discuss developing a geocaching policy for state-managed land, Sue Black, then director of State Parks, expressed 6 concerns about geocaching. She mentioned:
-Inappropriate items in caches
-Off trail hiking
-State Natural Areas
-Historical areas
-Digging
-Wildlife disturbanceTherefore we (the WGA committee of about 15 to 20 members that worked on the proposed policy draft) proposed a policy that would address these concerns. At that time there were a number of geocaches already placed in SNAs. One of the main tenets of our proposed policy was to establish that geocachers would ask for and receive permission before placing caches on state-managed land. Since the policy was not yet approved, we did not feel we should immediately begin requiring caches to ask for permission, because most park managers were still unfamiliar with geocaching. However, to remain in good standing with the DNR, we felt it best to immediately recommend that no new geocaches be allowed in SNAs. By the way, one of the reasons the DNR expressed this concern is because in many SNAs, off-trail hiking is not permitted and it was felt that geocaching is quite often an off-trail activity. At that time, the WGA did not have an official role in approving new caches. Therefore, we had no authority to require caches be removed from SNAs. Not long after that, Jeremy Irish decided to start granting admin authority to local geocaching associations because of all the local and state rules that were being enacted by various parks officials around the country and the world. At the present time, GrouseTales is the main admin for Wisconsin for approving caches. JeremyV and I also pitch in from time to time. This responsibility will likely rotate from time to time. By taking on this responsibility, we show the state DNR that not only do we have the backing of Wisconsin geocachers and geocaching.com, but we also have the means to enforce the policy we are jointly developing with the DNR. Now, back to the SNA “grandfathering” issue. Many of us who had existing caches in SNAs decided on an individual basis to remove some of them. For example, my New Prospect cache was in an SNA in the Northern Kettle Moraine unit. I decided that it had been there long enough and there was potential for the plant life to be damaged, so I removed it. However, at my other SNA cache — Devils Lake Revisited — there is very little potential for any plant life damage because it is hidden in a boulder field. So I decided to let that one remain. Likewise, for the time being, other geocachers have been given the option of deciding whether or not to remove their caches in SNAs. That may change if the DNR requests us to remove all SNA caches, or if they require ALL geocaches to receive an annual permit. We don’t yet know what their requirement will be because we’re still waiting to see a copy of the policy.
I hope this answers some of your questions so you know that enforcement of the SNA rule has not been arbitrary. For now, “grandfathered” caches in SNAs have been allowed to remain. Time will tell if that continues to be the case. If you have opinions or comments, please share them here. We welcome your input.
For more background on why we are cooperating with the DNR, check out the forum topic “Wisconsin DNR” here in the WGA forums: http://wi-geocaching.com/forums/Forum9/HTML/000001.html
[This message has been edited by kbraband (edited 10-07-2003).]
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Originally posted by OuttaHand:
For my most recent cache, “The Trail’s Gone Cold”, I checked with ‘The Man’.
This is terrific, OuttaHand. You’re a great example of what we should all be doing. It just goes to show that communicating with land managers is not hard to do, and we shouldn’t be intimidated at the thought.
Tree,
It’s great that you are going to ask permission. All geocachers should be doing this. Your best bet is to talk with the park manager and explain what you wish to do. If he or she has not heard of geocaching, you may wish to have your geocache container to show him/her. If you want to take an article along to leave with the park manager, here’s one written especially for park managers: (2 pages here) http://www.rocketink.com/WPRAarticlepage1.jpg
http://www.rocketink.com/WPRAarticlepage2.jpgThat’s a great post! Thanks for calling to our attention. Hoodie-hoo!
Dave, thanks for the revision. BTW, I misread your instructions. I thought I had to enter the CG# of my first cache as well as the date. I see all I had to do was enter the date.
I just created my login for the stats page. I tried to enter the GC# for my first cache, but your instructions say it must be exactly six characters. My first cache was GC28. Any suggestions?
Bumping this topic to the active list. We’re still open to suggestions for locations and dates for the spring 2004 campout. While you’re at it, how about ideas for the picnic?
This looks like the beginnings of a project for some enterprising WGA member. We could encourage everyone to submit the name and coordinates for their favorite restaurants, cafes, and diners. Then someone could compile the list, make it available on a WGA page along with a downloadable .LOC file.
Another idea would be to list the restaurant name and coordinates on the page of your nearby cache so geocachers can have them on the printout.
Great job, cashing out, on your 100 and on the underwater cache. I have always wanted to give that one a try but so far I haven’t executed a plan to get the job done. I admire everyone who has done it so far.
I had to scratch my head a bit to figure out if I really had 12. My actual number right now is 9. One of the extras is from Team Rusch’s Travelin’ Cache, which is now in Louisiana. The other extras were locationless caches, which I don’t do anymore. Actual finds: WI, IA, IL, MN, IN, OH, PA, AL, CO.
For the fall picnic and the spring campout I shot video and posted clips in the WGA photo album. I have never received any feedback about the video, so I’m asking: Has anyone tried to look at these clips? If so, are you able to view them on your computer? If so, do you enjoy viewing them or is it a waste of website storage space?
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Originally posted by MR Andersen:
huh?
Exactly, MR. I read that same description at the web site but I still don’t know what a geocacher would do with it. Can the former teacher shed some enlightenment, rpaske?
[This message has been edited by kbraband (edited 09-06-2003).]
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Originally posted by rpaske:
Just when you thought you thought you had all of the geocaching tools you needed, I ran across this link on geocaching.com. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/. Maybe this will help cure some of the nofinds I have been having lately 😉[This message has been edited by rpaske (edited 09-05-2003).]
It must be late and I must be tired. Randy, can you explain in a nutshell what you use this program for? Thanks.
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